Sacramento, CA: Marijuana law reform advocates participated in a press conference and lobby day in Sacramento on Tuesday to voice their support for legislation to halt a pending tax hike on legal cannabis products.
California NORML hosted the event, which featured state assembly member Matt Haney, sponsor of AB 564. The bill, which is backed by California NORML, the United Food and Commercial Workers – Western States Council, the California Cannabis Industries Association, and other groups, halts efforts to increase the excise tax on adult-use cannabis products from 15 percent to 19 percent. Absent legislative action, the tax increase takes effect on July 1st.
“This bill would do something very simple,” Rep. Haney said. “It simply says, ‘Let’s not put a 25 percent tax increase on an industry that is still struggling to survive.’ Let’s invest in them and support them, not tax them to force them all to close. It’s not a sustainable approach … This bill will provide a critical lifeline to give this industry at least a fighting chance to survive.”
California is among several states that are considering plans to increase taxes on retail marijuana products. Lawmakers in Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, and Ohio have also proposed significant tax hikes.
NORML opposes excessive taxes on cannabis products because artificially high prices drive consumers away from the legal marketplace and into the unregulated market.
An action alert in support of AB 564 is available from NORML’s Take Action Center.